Mosa Meat: Cultivated Meat Pioneer Files for Switzerland Approval After Instant Crowdfunding Success

Dutch cultivated meat pioneer Mosa Meat has filed a dossier for regulatory approval in Switzerland a day after surpassing its crowdfunding goal of €1.5M ($1.56M) in just 24 minutes.

Mosa Meat, the company known for producing the world’s first cultivated beef burger, has applied for regulatory approval in Switzerland, shortly after hitting its crowdfunding goal of €1.5M ($1.56M) in 24 minutes.

The startup has filed to sell its cultivated beef fat for use in blended meat products. Its submission was supported by Bell Food Group, Switzerland’s largest meat processor and an investor in Mosa Meat, since the country’s Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO) requires a local company to handle the process.

It comes just two weeks after Mosa Meat applied for the greenlight in the EU. While all novel foods approved in the EU can be marketed in Switzerland without separate authorisation, the latter doesn’t require a voting procedure from a standing committee (unlike the EU), which allows for a faster, less complex process.

Both the EU and Swiss regulatory assessments are expected to take 18 months. “Thousands of hours of work by our employees and analyses by six independent laboratories have gone into this dossier and we have the utmost confidence that Swiss regulators will find our product exceeds the robust safety standards of their novel foods law,” Mosa Meat CEO Maarten Bosch said in a statement.

News of the application comes amid the Dutch startup’s ongoing crowdfunding campaign. In two days, Mosa Meat has been overfunded at 175% of its target, raising more than €2.65M ($2.75M) from over 1,110 investors (the largest investment so far being €1M). The campaign on Crowdcube remains open until February 25, unless it reaches the maximum funding limit of €13M (combined in the EU and the UK) before then.

The investment adds to Mosa Meat’s €40M ($42.4M) round last April, which took its total funding to $135M. Among its backers are big names like Leonardo DiCaprio, Sergey Brin, Chris Sacca, and the Mitsubishi Corporation.

“We are very excited that after receiving support from institutional investors, governments, meat producers and regulators, we can now also offer more consumers to join us on our mission,” said Bosch.

Why Mosa Meat took the crowdfunding route

Asked why Mosa Meat decided to open up to crowd investors, Bosch told Green Queen: “Ever since Mosa Meat was founded, we’ve had consumers reach out to us that asked if they could help further our mission by investing. With the progress that we have been making, getting closer to market introductions, we thought this was a good moment to start involving consumers and retail investors.”

He added that the startup will use the funds to “speed up final R&D before restaurant sales can start. We’ll also fund marketing for the first product launch, and the production of the first burgers intended for sale”.

Bosch noted that “the sheer volume of investment requests” Mosa Meat received after it submitted its EU regulatory dossier was “astounding”.

“This campaign is about inclusivity; allowing those who support us to help shape the future of food alongside us,” he said.

If Mosa Meat’s application to the EU Commission and the European Food Safety Authority succeeds, it will be able to sell the ingredient in all 27 member states and three EEA countries. It is also awaiting approval from the Singapore Food Agency, and plans to apply in several other geographies, including the UK, where it is in talks to participate in the government’s newly created regulatory sandbox.

The food tech company has previously indicated interest in the US too, but its decision will now partly be dependant on political developments there – Donald Trump’s return to the presidency and Robert F Kennedy’s imminent appointment as health secretary have left things uncertain for food tech in the country, particularly cultivated meat.

French startup Gourmey is the only other startup that has applied for EU clearance (for its goose-free foie gras). It has also joined several others – like Meatable, Vital Meat and Aleph Farms – are vying for the greenlight in Singapore. The UK, meanwhile, has seen applications from Ivy Farm Technologies, Vital Meat, Gourmey, and Aleph Farms. The latter, which is already approved in Israel, is pursuing clearance in Thailand and Switzerland too.

Vow, meanwhile, is awaiting the go-ahead from Food Standards Australia New Zealand, having launched in Singapore and Hong Kong last year.

‘A clear sign’ that consumers want better options

Venture capitalists have deserted the cultivated meat sector over the past 12-18 months- investment dropped by 75% in 2023, followed by another steep decline in 2024., leading to the demise of some startups and forcing others to restructure and conduct layoffs.

Mosa Meat is one of the outliers, evidenced by its €40M raise last year, and the instant success of the crowdfunding campaign. “The overwhelming response to our crowdfunding campaign shows just how strong the demand for cultivated meat remains, even in a challenging VC environment,” Bosch told Green Queen.

“Despite the situation in capital markets, we’re still seeing unwavering support from consumers, governments, established meat producers, regulators and other partners. It’s a clear sign that people want better options, without giving up what they love,” he added.

Bosch said the introduction of Mosa Meat’s burgers depends on where it first receives approval, as well as its production costs and volumes. “We can currently produce our burgers at restaurant price levels, and that’s where we’ll start introducing them. One of the options around introductions is to involve the people that participated in this crowdfunding,” he explained.

The Crowdcube campaign listed several rewards for backers based on the amount invested, from €750 all the way to €250,000. “There are options to get free burgers, skip the line once we get an approval, or even join our founders in Maastricht for an exclusive tasting event this year,” said Bosch.

Mosa Meat held a public tasting for cattle farmers, product developers and other industry representatives at its headquarters in Maastricht in July, where it dished out hybrid beef burgers.

Where can you taste it next? “We are currently creating our next-generation products and are preparing to submit tasting approvals for those this year,” said Bosch.

Other alternative protein startups that have successfully taken the crowdfunding approach include fellow cultivated meat company SuperMeat and plant-based meat players THIS, Heura and La Vie. The Pack, a vegan pet food player that just debuted dog treats blended with Meatly’s cultivated chicken, has also pursued crowdfunding.